Rattray's Booklet on Tobacco Blending

[davidk]

http://www.fumeursdepipe.net/telecha/rattraysbooklet.pdf
I'd suppose many in this forum have seen this, but I hadn't until this week. I discovered it through a link in a different pipe smoking forum in a discussion focusing on the additives and flavors in present-day pipe tobaccos. This document seemed to be used as a criticism of current practices that lead to allegedly more artificial, too-wet, preservative-laden, lower quality mixtures. I have no opinion of my own here.
But I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts about or responses to this document.

 

[hawky454]

Wow, thanks for the link... I'm looking forward to reading that. I have never seen nor heard of it before.

 

[sallow]

Oh so that's how you do it.
I like the pictures of the old, square tins. Very nice. Thanks davidk.

 

[beefeater33]

Thanks for sharing! That's a cool read. I find page 10 really interesting: "Tobacco is a vegetable that lives and breathes: it does not improve by being imprisoned in an airtight compartment"............

As of late, I'm finding this to be very true. Maybe airtight is good for decade-long storage, but I do find that the tobac improves or "ages" (matures?) better when its given some breathing room............. Fascinating stuff here...... ::

 

[sablebrush52]

That's a fun bit of tobacco history. The language conveys a wonderful sense of gentility and grace.
The claims need to be taken with a grain or 50 of salt. Back in the day, blenders put all sorts of additives into their blends, like valerian root and belladonna, to kick up the high, many of which that are now illegal to use. And the competition, Gawth for example, tinned with a lot of excess moisture.

 

[simong]

I don't think they used to bother aging tobacco years ago, the quality blends in Scotland alone (3 nuns/Presbyterian/dobies) were of such quality, there was no need to.

Lovely article.

 

[sablebrush52]

Excess is relative though. Greg P says it's essential to proper aging in sealed containers.

True, as is some air in the containers to help the little critters in your weed do their beneficial work. But Gawth adds a lot of moisture to their blends, more than many others. And Russ tins his blends at what he considers the optimum level of moisture for smoking right out of the tin. A lot of people here, used to wetter stuff, actually hydrate H&H.
Of course, they're wrong to do that. ::

 

[lochinvar]

I have a copy somewhere in the office, it's a neat little time capsule.